Posts Tagged ‘The Body Electric’

Talking about Cold Equations

I recently took part in another recorded interview on trekmate.org.uk‘s podcast program Ten Forward. This time, co-hosts Michael Clark and Sina Alvarado invited me on the show to talk about my New York Times bestselling Star Trek: Cold Equations trilogy, whose three volumes they’ve reviewed over the past few months. (Listen to the spoiler-laden, in-depth critical discussions of Book I: The Persistence of Memory; Book II: Silent Weapons; and Book III: The Body Electric.)

coldequationsAs always when I chat with Michael and Sina, it’s a fun conversation, full of digressions and tangents. We talked about the genesis of the trilogy, one of my original ideas for the trilogy that ended up needing to be abandoned, and my reactions to their show’s previous analyses of the books. In addition, we discuss some of my upcoming projects. Give it a listen and find out why Michael and Sina’s Ten Forward is one of my favorite podcasts.

 

The Body Electric keeps kicking ass

bodyelectric_largeLong story short: I am pleased to report that The Body Electric, the New York Times bestselling final book of my Star Trek: The Next Generation trilogy Cold Equations, has landed at #2 on Locus Magazine‘s April list of media-related bestsellers.

Not too shabby.

I’ll also soon have news about a number of upcoming book projects for Star Trek. I’ve signed the contracts, and now I just need to wait for the powers that be at Simon and Schuster to countersign them, and then get the nod from my editor and licensor to reveal some very cool stuff that’s been in the works for a while now….

Stay tuned, Trek fans!

 

I Can’t Please Everyone

Robert Lyons at The Trek Lit Report has finally posted his review of The Body Electric, the final volume in my bestselling Star Trek: The Next Generation trilogy Cold Equations … and aside from the prologue and the epilogue, he really didn’t like it.

Of the prologue and epilogue, he wrote:

“As we enter into the prologue of The Body Electric, Mack is once again on course for a true KO of a story. His recounting, in retrospect, of the death of Lal, from her point of view, is nothing short of breathtaking. His epilogue, which serves to fill in further detail concerning Lal, is equally moving. These two elements of the book are some of the most meaningful prose ever penned surrounding android life in the Star Trek universe.”

 

Unfortunately, the rest of the book disappointed him greatly:

“The Body Electric suffers from an incomprehensible ‘enemy’, a pedantic man-child, and a misidentified android, and leaves a very empty, hollow feeling in the stomach upon completion. Mack’s development of Data 2.0 goes too far opposite of all we came to know about Data in the collective TNG experience of him, and leaves me very fearful for the future direction of this beloved member of the Next Generation family.”

Ah, well. That’s the way it goes sometimes. Robert, I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the book, and I hope my next novel, A Ceremony of Losses (November 2013), is more to your liking.

The Body Electric — eBooks now on sale!

Quick news about Star Trek: The Next Generation – Cold Equations, Book III: The Body Electric: The on-sale date for electronic editions (iBook, eBook, Nook, Kindle, etc.) of this title has been moved up to today. Those of you who buy and read your books electronically can get the final volume of the Cold Equations trilogy now.

(The print version is still scheduled for release next Wednesday, though I’m hearing rumors some Barnes & Noble stores have started shelving it already.)

That is all. You may now resume your preparations for the nonexistent approaching Mayan apocalypse.

My “Next Big Thing”

This is a writer-to-writer meme that’s been making the rounds lately. It’s basically a chain of book and author promotions. One author tags five others, who then each tag five others. The idea is that we all help people out there learn about all the good stuff that’s just out or coming soon.  Whether it actually works, who knows?

Anyway, I was tagged with this opportunity by fellow author Jeff Mariotte (who long ago was also my editor on the Star Trek: Divided We Fall comic-book miniseries I cowrote with John J. Ordover), so here goes.

The “Next Big Thing” self-interview consists of 10 questions:

1. What is the working title of your next book?
My next book to hit shelves is Star Trek: The Next Generation – Cold Equations, Book III: The Body Electric. It arrives in bookstores both brick and virtual next Wednesday, December 26, 2012.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
I wanted to craft an epic, “big idea” sci-fi story for the Enterprise-E crew to face. As a kid, I loved the novels and short stories of Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clark, and Isaac Asimov, and I wanted something that captured the same sense of scope and grandeur one finds in those writers’ classic works.

3. What genre does your book fall under?
The Body Electric is a space-opera-style science-fiction thriller.

4. What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
Most of the roles are already spoken-for, since it’s a media tie-in novel. But there are some new faces among the Enterprise-E crew. I think Kristin Kreuk would be a great choice to play Lieutenant T’ryssa Chen; science officer Lieutenant Dina Elfiki could be played by Minka Kelly; and new security chief Lieutenant Aneta Šmrhová should be played by the Czech actress after whom she was named.

5. What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A planet-sized Machine is hurling entire star systems into a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, and unless the Enterprise crew stops it, it will unleash a cataclysm that will destroy all life and civilizations in the Milky Way.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The book was represented by my agent, Lucienne Diver of The Knight Agency, and it is being published by Simon & Schuster, the official licensed publisher of Star Trek fiction.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
Approximately two months.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
As presumptuous as this might sound, I would dare to compare it to Clarke’s seminal Rendezvous With Rama.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I was asked by my publisher to concoct a new epic-scale trilogy of Star Trek novels, and this apocalyptic-style fever dream was what I came up with.

10. What else about the book might pique the readers’ interest?
Let’s just say that more than one long-lost fan-favorite character is returned to the Star Trek literary universe by this novel.

I’m not going to “tag” anyone to do this next, since I’m not always sure who’s in need of promotional time.  But any authors who’d like to jump on this bandwagon as it rolls on by are welcome to leave comments with links to their respective blogs’ posts on this topic. So go on, writer-folk: Tell us about your “next big thing,” and feel free to post a link to your self-interview in the comments section.

Cover for The Body Electric, plus a triptych!

Have a gander at the cover for The Body Electric — the final volume in my upcoming Star Trek: The Next Generation trilogy, Cold Equations:

Also, a special bonus treat: the full triptych that combines all three covers:

(Click to see a larger version)

Sweet, eh?

Book One, The Persistence of Memory goes on sale October 30.

Book Two, Silent Weapons, will be published on November 27.

Book Three, The Body Electric, will be released on December 26.